Personally, I tend to prefer brick and mortar stores over shopping online. I’m one of those old-fashioned people who wants to actually hold it in my hand so I know exactly what I’m getting but as far as GPS units goes, Garmin does most of its business online so for the most part, that’s not really an option. However, if you live in Miami, you might soon be able to do just that.

According to a press release, Garmin is looking to open a new store in Miami, Fla. The new 2,600 square-foot Garmin store will be located at the Lincoln Road Mall in Miami. Garmin describes the location to feature “conceirge-like customer service” plus all of the newest Garmin products in all of Garmin’s operating sectors—wellness, running, cycling, golfing, marine, automotive and outdoor recreation. read more

If you use any kind of sport or activity tracker for anything other than the most basic, casual run then you probably have a heart rate monitor (HRM) to go along with it. And, having worn a few in my time, I know how uncomfortable they can be. Well, it looks like Garmin agrees and wants to fix that.

This week, Garmin introduced two new heart rate monitors, the HRM-Tri and the HRM-Swim. Both devices are still in development but should be compatible with a number of its activity tracking devices including the Forerunner 920XT, Forerunner 620, Fenix 3, Fenix 3 and Epix. The HRMs are designed to be comfortable to wear with adjustable straps with hidden seams and smooth edges. read more

If you’re in the market for running trackers, GPS watches or fitness activity trackers, then you have no shortage of options. There are literally dozens of different units on the market right now, and they are all pretty similar. But, if you’re looking for something that does all of the above, then Garmin has finally delivered.

This week, Garmin introduced the next Forerunner running watch. Called the Forerunner 225, this GPS watch is the first Garmin device to include heart-rate monitoring without uncomfortable and more expensive straps or any external devices whatsoever. Thanks to a partnership with Mio, industry-leading technology has made this particular running watch stand out. read more

I don’t think that anyone would deny that the world of GPS is changing, and the companies that rely on GPS are changing with it. Garmin recently released the first quarter results for 2015 and for fans of automotive GPS, it’s a grim assessment.

For the last few years, GPS companies have seen a continual and gradual decline in their sales and Garmin has been allowing for 10% – 15% quarterly decline of its automotive unit. In the most recent quarter, the automotive segment fell right in line with that at a loss of 11% from the first quarter of last year. It might not sound like all that much, but this continual decline has really begun to show. To put that in perspective, The Motley Fool reported that in 2011 automotive units made up roughly 60% of Garmin’s overall revenue. However, in 2015, that number has dropped to just over half—a whopping 37% of sales overall. read more

Despite the lukewarm reception and lack of success of Garmin’s first action camera, which debuted last year, Garmin has introduced a second generation this month, this time with better quality cameras and several connectivity capabilities, including GPS. The VIRB X and VIRB XE are both expected to be available sometime this summer.

The VIRB action camera family is part of Garmin’s outdoor segment and is designed with daredevils in mind. With high-quality lenses and speeds, the device is able to record the adventures of users in HD to be shared with friends, family and the Internet. The X and XE support not only GPS but Wifi and Bluetooth so users can overlay videos with various data including GPS positioning, speed, RPM and throttle position. GPS antennas are also used to help synchronize footage from several cameras while editing, and to allow users to locate cameras for easy recovery after adventures are done.  read more

The Apple Watch has been hailed as a serious threat to Garmin.

If you pay attention to technology news at all, then you’re probably aware that the Apple Watch will be debuting soon. It seems to be all people are talking about, which is basically what I’ve personally come to expect from anything associated with Apple. What surprised me, however, was the number of articles comparing the Apple Watch to Garmin GPS watch products. And, even more startling is the number of analysts that are claiming that Apple will be a threat to Garmin’s product line. read more

I must say, ladies and gents, the automotive GPS market is not looking really great. Garmin, undoubtedly the largest and most popular provider of GPS devices in general, posted their 2014 financial reports late last week, and the numbers showed an 11% decrease in automotive devices and an 8% drop in outdoor devices (which includes handhelds and sport devices). Fitness devices, on the other hand, saw a whopping 70% increase, while marine and aviation saw moderate increases as well.

Here’s what Cliff Pemble, president and CEO of Garmin Ltd. said in the release as far as the auto market goes: read more